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A wide choice of topics covered from the dawn of history right up to present days . Many of these have a wider relevance than purely within the context of Strathearn . The author's viewpoint often is at variance with the accepted opinions espoused elsewhere eg The Jacobite Uprisings and The Reformation .

To know and understand Crieff as it exists in the yearof the DiamondJubilee ofHer Majesty Queen Victoria ,it is necessaryin the first placeto have someyears’ experiencein the town ,
and in the second placeto have some
sense ofobservation . There arecasts, sets , cliques , andcircles , sufficient to makeIndia hide its facein very shame; and there are more public
houses, doctors , lawyers , ministers ,
billiard rooms and churches than in almostanytown of the same
populationin either Scotland, Englandor Ireland. If you are in one set , you are notin the other , and if you are in the
other, your principal duty is to stickto it . You know the setsby their unfailing attachment ; you know the
circlesby their consequential airs ;
you distinguishthe castsby the way they carry their heads ; and you
can easilydiscover the cliquesby their unflagging attention to everybodiesaffairsbut their own .

In the summer time , Crieff lifeactually beginsto be of interestabout 10AM . The prosperousbusinessmancharges along the High Streetshouldering his morningnewspaper
, and tells everybody “ it’s a good “ or a better day “; all the tradesmenhanging about James Square , scatter like
birds in a thunderstorm ; the legal menbreak into a professional trot , and shortly disappear into their
offices ; all the buddingdoctors on the
hunt for broken legs , flutter aboutat
every corner ; the matronseeks out the
cheapestdinner and stows itaway in an arrangementlike a poacher’s net ; the early risingvisitorsswagger about in skirts , blouses and ties , suggesting everything that
is Jubilee; the tourist , in the garb of the northern land lord ,
shouldershis knapsack , and strides a
way ; and the local pressmen chase one another along to the Police Court ,
wondering if the weatheris likely to be
suitablefor a ComrieEarthquake . As time wears on to noon day,
the streets are thronged by anotherpopulation .Where they come of is hard to say but they are all there.
Stout ladieswith delicatelooking husbandsstep slowlyalong the centre ofthe pavement
, andstop and starein at every shop window . Behindcometheir beamingbut sorelyoppressed daughters , watching everything and
everybody , and behind themagain
comesconfounded little brotherwho swears he will tell “ all about it “if
they don’t buy him something at the nearest sweetie shop .Mixedamong this crowdare the visitors who imagine they know all
about everything .When they reachthe
Murray Fountain, they stop for a minute , and criticisethe architecture . “ Gothic,” says one .
“Grecian “says another. “ Both wrong”, remarks another ---“Corinthian , “ and
there they stand , pointing out with their walking sticksdefects in balance , and generally condemning
the style ofarchitecture .

” Whose Murray? asks someone . “Oh, a Waterloo hero, “answers
someone else. “ Correct, “says another, not to be behind in his historical information,
and away they walk congratulating themselves on their knowledge of everything
that is useful. Then there is a multi- farious collection of visitors whose
chief ideas of a quite holiday are a parade about the streets before dinner,
and a short walk in the afternoon. You can see them any day in the summer
mashing about withwhite parasols, and
last year’s ball dresses improved at the neck, and al looking supernaturally
grand.

It is not till the afternoon that Crieff people themselves are
seen at their best. Round the shops the older people roam, admiring everything
that is new, and buying everything that is useless. A carriagedraws up ; the head shop keeperrushesto openthe door; the ladysteps on to the pavement with the airs of an
eastern princess, she orders half a pound of cheese and a pound of butter , and
pays the account a year hence . Later on there put in an appearancethe peoplewho have reducedafternoon
callingto fine art , and whosesole work at homeis dusting the drawing roommantle shelfand looking outfornew and reliable servants . They skip
alongthe high Street , and omit to
recogniseall their oldfriends , and practiceafternoon teain the back garden , in prospect of the country gatheringsin the Autumn .About four o’clock stylish Crieff is afloat
on bicycles.Like the new telegraph boys
they believe, because they are in a hurry, they can knock everybody over, and never
say “Sorry “. Away they fly, all laughing and gay, and when the chivalrous youths
round the corner observe their approach, they raise their caps, and shortly
follow in their wake. Two hours thereafter the daughters of the wheel return,
tired and jaded, and next morning they get breakfast in bed.It is about seven o’clock in the evening that
the male population is most in evidence. Newmarket coats, sticks, canes,
cigarettes and silk handkerchiefs follow their masters out to Ochtertyre or
round the Knock, or oftener to the nearest billiard table .The actual working
population gathers in James Square with the regularity of an eight day clock,
and the pavement swells with an interesting variety of people of all castes and
classes, trying to impress the population with their outstanding importance. In
the evening, too, golf and bowling are in full swing, and there are the usual
spooning and flirting at the tennis court. All are enjoyable games, ---
particularly the tennis. The patrons become attached to the game sometimes in
the interests of sport, but too often from a business point of view, and there
they fly about till after sundown while their mammas are slavingat home with lodgers to raise the rent – Sic vita est .

Life in Crieff is an interesting study, and the subject
givesample scopein itselffor a bookwhich hasyet to be written . In a short sketch , such
as this , only the principalfeatures a
can be touched upon . To deal with the subjectin a complete form , onewould require
to start with the menwhosework is a profession, and the menwhose professionis doing nothing; joining in the same chapter
, the class who mixup their
professionwith labour, by sweeping out
the shopon the Sunday morning. Then there would come the working classes, for
whom we hold the highest respect, and then all the other sections of the people
in the town which go to make up a highly intelligent community. Crieff is
worthseeing and knowing , and
thosewho find nothingabout it to interestand amuse , must walkwith their eyes closed, or be inin love with their own shadow .

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Comments

I have found your blog articles very interesting. I am researching my family who come from the Perthshire area. From Crieff to Tibbermore but mainly Methven. Many of the places you mention I know from records and your blogs have helped make them more real. I live in Perth, Western Australia. The person I am researching at the moment was living in Crieff at the time Queen Victoria visited in 1942. I wonder if his 7 year-old eyes saw the person who would appoint him many years later as a doctor.

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Retired part time lecturer at Perth College and former rugby correspondent to our local paper the Strathearn Herald .Former President and a Honorary Member of Crieff & Strathearn Rugby Club. Written 4 books on the local history of Strathearn .